SPOILERS U2 eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour Rehearsals/Soundcheck Thread SPOILERS

[Gonna Run 2 U]

Thinking about the lyrics to acrobat I pray it’s not tied into something with overly political themes on screen or played immediately after a Bono rant. They should dim the lights and just blast this tune as a gift to the fans.

 

[rennowba]

Play some NLOTH!!!

Definitely toilet break songs [emoji85][emoji85][emoji2]

 

[georgemccauley]

Breathe, Zoo Station and Crumbs From Your Table are cuts I want to hear

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

https://youtu.be/ueZ6tvqhk8U

 

[Axver]

I’d take a full band Ground Beneath Her Feet as my underdog dark horse pick to get played some point this tour. I don’t really expect it but they said rarities so that’s my hope. Has the entire band ever performed it live totally plugged in with Edge’s solo at the end? (That’s more or less an Axver question)

Unfortunately not. On the one hand I'm amazed it got played live at all, and semi-regularly on Elevation's first two legs at that, but on the other it's a pity it never got the treatment it deserved.

My avoidance of spoilers that I said I'd do till June lasted through 3 days of rehearsals

Halfway decent effort really.

Play some NLOTH!!!

Worst post in the thread.

 

[martha]

Play some NLOTH!!!

The title track would be nice. I did get to hear that live before they decided not to play that many songs from the album they were touring.

Jerks.

 

[superchuk5]

Play some NLOTH!!!

"Our next song is off an album we dreamed up in Morocco. This is Stand Up Comedy."

 

[TheGeekyU2Fan]

The title track would be nice. I did get to hear that live before they decided not to play that many songs from the album they were touring.

Jerks.

Sorry guys if I offended you.
But it would be nice to hear the title track or Magnificent in the tour.

 

[prbiker15]

Looks like no rehearsals today, there’s a hockey game tomorrow.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

This seems like an incredibly odd building choice for rehearsals

Venue Schedule

6:00: 12u travel hockey practice
7:30: beer league playoffs
9:00: U2

 

[Hewson]

This seems like an incredibly odd building choice for rehearsals

Venue Schedule

6:00: 12u travel hockey practice
7:30: beer league playoffs
9:00: U2

But they have poutine.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

It seems a given that "Wild Horses" and "Acrobat" will be tour regulars. They could get dropped if they don't appeal enough to the casual audience, but I doubt it (especially in the case of the former). The band loves Achtung Baby to death and they're really into the idea of performing two songs they never got quite right for previous tours (or even performed in the case of the latter).

I guess "The Fly" is do as well for a return since it's been skipped over on two tours entirely. It would be very welcome to have "The Fly" back and for both "Mysterious Ways" and "One" to be given a rest. The latter two made a ton of appearances on I&E and JT. I get the feeling that this tour will be seen as accompanying I&E by not really drawing from the same well as that one. They could rightfully ignore Songs of Innocence, "One" and "Mysterious Ways" along with plenty of stuff from the Joshua Tree LP. But don't be surprised if regulars like "Pride" or "Beautiful Day" show up.

 

[Axver]

They could rightfully ignore Songs of Innocence

It's literally called the Experience + Innocence tour, so, no.

Not that I'd weep if they overlooked it.

 

[trevgreg]

It would be very welcome to have "The Fly" back and for both "Mysterious Ways" and "One" to be given a rest. The latter two made a ton of appearances on I&E and JT. .

Oddly enough, One only got played at half of the I&E shows and Mysterious Ways only showed up at 12 Joshua Tree shows last year. So they were only really staples on one recent tour and not-so-much the other (particularly MW - which did have the slide solo in its few performances last year).

 

[BigMacPhisto]

It has to be kept in mind that a lot of these songs must appear in the setlist because the video footage and choreography have already been determined for some of them. Just as the same songs with key screen components formed the regular backbone of the I&E tour.

"Acrobat" would make for a particularly strong closer to the 10 song first set. It would give Bono a breather afterwards and could lead to a lot of cool strobe lighting just like "UTEOTW" on the I&E tour.

I could see the opening quartet mirroring that of I&E. This time, they would be going for a Zoo TV kind of feel (at least as far as the music is concerned). This would be fitting because this is the Experience tour rather than Innocence which had them starting the show as a club act with early tunes and recent rockers. It would also contrast with the JT tour to follow it up by opening with AB numbers.

1-4. So, two new songs with an electronic kind of feel (maybe Blacklist as one of the two?) and "Wild Horses" and "The Fly"....

5-6. Two more new songs....

7-9. Three more songs (2 old/1 new or vice versa)....

10. Acrobat....

Mid-Set Break



Wildcards That We Could Be Hearing:

11 O'Clock Tick Tock - This would be a "fresh" early tune. They played it at the club gig on the last tour. It still sounds amazing. It would fit especially well here given that they already played out "Electric Co." and "I Will Follow" and "Out of Control" and "Gloria" on the previous tour.

Something else from October - There's no guarantees, but I could see them re-evaluating this one. There's a lot of potential here to dig up another early song. Maybe "I Threw A Brick"? Or "I Fall Down"? Or "Fire"? They've brought us "Scarlet" and "October" and "Gloria" as regulars in recent years.

Something else from War - This would most likely be "Drowning Man"...they tried to do it on 360 and it fits the "never been played" theme.

"Elvis Presley and America" and/or "Promenade" - Yes, you'll probably look at me crazy for this choice. But I strongly feel that both of these could work very well in a live arena show context. They're both incredibly easy for the band to pull off and could even have nice visuals on the screen. Imagine Larry thumping away on the drums (maybe even a small kit on the b-stage) to Elvis while Bono belts out those lines. "Promenade" could work as a short intro to another song the way "Zooropa" did on the I&E Tour.

Rattle & Hum - They aren't just going to ignore the 30th. I feel a reissue of that album is on the way since the Fan Club is celebrating the anniversary with a vinyl release. Yes, they played all four singles on I&E, but there's other stuff that could make the odd appearance here or there and definitely when the reissue's release approaches.

Electronic-heavy numbers from Pop and "Electrical Storm" - I pick the latter merely because "Electrical Storm" could make for some nice tongue and cheek usage of the video screen given the song's title. But it's also a number that barely got touched live and helps them represent the early 00's without retreading the same boring ground of "Vertigo" or "Elevation" etc. Pop is certainly due and it should be noted that they rehearsed "The Playboy Mansion" for I&E since it hadn't ever been done before. Sames goes for "One Step Closer" but...eh.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

Oddly enough, One only got played at half of the I&E shows and Mysterious Ways only showed up at 12 Joshua Tree shows last year. So they were only really staples on one recent tour and not-so-much the other (particularly MW - which did have the slide solo in its few performances last year).

Eh, together they chalked up about a bazillion appearances over those two tours, even if only one was a guaranteed selection every night on one of the two tours.

The rumor of them not touching JT or earlier would be very, very nice. Think about it. Ticket sales have already been lukewarm because the band has played so many areas of Europe and the US to death over the last few years and practically everybody saw the JT tour. Why not finally give that album a complete rest along with "SBS" and "Pride" etc.?

7 songs from SOI/SOE
2 songs from R&H
4 songs from AB (but not the ones you heard to death on the last two tours, excepting "UTEOTW")


That would be a nice backbone. And that would leave a third of the set for other curious offerings. Non-album tracks. Pop cuts. Deeper or not recently played tracks from the 00s albums.

Or perhaps where the JT main set didn't have anything after JT perhaps the pre-encore stuff for this tour won't have anything from JT or before (leaving the encore to have "I Will Follow" or "Streets" or whatever). But hell, they don't even need "Streets" just do "City" instead. Felt like the latter had a better reaction anyway on I&E.

Or perhaps not....seems like there will be a "Pride" > "American Soul" > "City" kind of American thing I imagine.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

It's literally called the Experience + Innocence tour, so, no.

Not that I'd weep if they overlooked it.

And just where were the Experience songs on the previous tour?

But I agree that it seems likely that they're back. "Cedarwood" is probably the top candidate simply because it was arguably the most jaw dropping video production of the bunch. (Plus, we know they rehearsed it already).

 

[BigMacPhisto]

And what a pity Pride, one of U2's very few songs that's worse live (much worse), is the first eighties song to be rehearsed. Your average casual would be no less happy with NYD, which sounded fantastic last year, or SBS, which many of us are sick of but sounds better than Pride these days.

It says something that on multiple occasions I accidentally omitted Pride when adding JT30 sets to U2gigs.

Bono is just too in love with "Pride"...they're more likely to let "Streets" leave the setlist than "Pride"....he likes the theme of the song and its ideals and said it's the track he wished would have been on Joshua Tree, yada yada. It'll never leave.

It's up and down with that number over the years. At least it hasn't always sucked live like "One" has since the turn of this century.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

It got a rest on the last tour, but I’m surprised they’re considering playing it again.

The general audience ate it up on Vertigo.

And on 360.

And on I&E.


It has been played like all but two nights on those three regular tours. It is absolutely no surprise that it would return. It's up there with "Until The End of the World" as the rare non-mega hit that always impresses the casual audience.

"Beautiful Day" is the only song that would be more likely to show up than COBL. But at this point, I'm not so sure. BD got to appear every night on JT30 and every night since it was first released. They were already trying to tweak it significantly on JT30 as it's starting to get rather tired. Gun to my head, I think "COBL" is the most likely song from 2000-2016 that you'll hear from this band every night on E&I.

If you think about it, the band could run out of "rarities" real estate pretty quickly. If they're doing like 7 songs (or more) from the last two LPs, at least one from R&H and like four from AB and trotting out "Pride" and "COBL" etc. every single night, well, there won't be that much room left for anything else. Before you know it, the diehards will catch on to the three "rotation" slots and basically be dying, once again, for that two song reprieve near the middle of the show where seemingly anything could be busted out (just like on I&E).

Perhaps the early rotational slot will be an Achtung Baby number. Like maybe "The Fly" subs out with "Until The End of the World" and every single audience gets "Horses" and "Acrobat". A closing rotating number to end the evening (like last time) is possible and it would surely be a big hit again or 40.

Really feels like "Pop" should be where they land towards the start of the second half of the set. Come back from the encore with "Discotheque" and then have a rotating Pop slot after that or something. Would go well with the visuals as would Zoo TV stuff for the AB material.

 

[Axver]

And just where were the Experience songs on the previous tour?

But I agree that it seems likely that they're back. "Cedarwood" is probably the top candidate simply because it was arguably the most jaw dropping video production of the bunch. (Plus, we know they rehearsed it already).

You're being specious, especially given the thematic arc pointed directly from innocence to experience - the most you can do when an album hasn't even been written. But once you've got two albums out that are both included in the tour's name, of course both of them will be represented somehow.

I'd bet 8-10 new songs per night, of which 2-3 will be SOI. Song for Someone will stick around because 13 won't be played, and SFS was the single too. Cedarwood for the reasons you mention. The Miracle maybe because it was the lead single, though I'd discard it. A full band EBW would be welcome, especially as it's a song that feels more "experience-y"; on that note, The Troubles would fit this tour, especially if they go hard on the nineties angle.

 

[blueskies]

I could see the opening quartet mirroring that of I&E. This time, they would be going for a Zoo TV kind of feel (at least as far as the music is concerned). This would be fitting because this is the Experience tour rather than Innocence which had them starting the show as a club act with early tunes and recent rockers. It would also contrast with the JT tour to follow it up by opening with AB numbers.

1-4. So, two new songs with an electronic kind of feel (maybe Blacklist as one of the two?) and "Wild Horses" and "The Fly"....

Agree on the general idea, but I'd rather expect something more upbeat. Blackout, Discotheque, Vertigo, Crazy. Something along those lines.

"Elvis Presley and America" and/or "Promenade" - Yes, you'll probably look at me crazy for this choice. But I strongly feel that both of these could work very well in a live arena show context. They're both incredibly easy for the band to pull off and could even have nice visuals on the screen. Imagine Larry thumping away on the drums (maybe even a small kit on the b-stage) to Elvis while Bono belts out those lines. "Promenade" could work as a short intro to another song the way "Zooropa" did on the I&E Tour.

Thank you, absolutely agree. Since hearing SOE I felt like Promenade could be a wonderful fit. It's got a very similar feeling to it. I didn't quite know where to put it in a set, but yes, it could absolutely segue into an atmospheric SOE or NLOTH song the way Zooropa did with Streets in 2015.

 

[dan_smee]

I just can’t help but imagine an intro with all the lights off, and Love is All We Have Left being played by Edge in Darkness, and Bono singing live from backstage. Perfect opportunity for the augmented reality to kick in with all the cosmos imagery. It’d be spectacular is vivid blue and black in total darkness, and then the lights can pulse on as the band launch into The Blackout.

 

[gareth brown]

Breathe, Zoo Station and Crumbs From Your Table are cuts I want to hear

I'd love to hear Zoo Station, but judging by the IE tour it's region locked nowadays Bugs the hell out of me that they think only Germany wants to hear it or that only Spain wants to hear Spanish Eyes.

If they insist on doing that with certain songs, I just hope American Soul is safely contained in the first leg then fucks right off.

 

[blueskies]

I'd love to hear Zoo Station, but judging by the IE tour it's region locked nowadays Bugs the hell out of me that they think only Germany wants to hear it or that only Spain wants to hear Spanish Eyes.

If they insist on doing that with certain songs, I just hope American Soul is safely contained in the first leg then fucks right off.

Haha, I agree, but as far as I'm concerned you can keep American Soul I wouldn't mind Zoo Station though

 

[georgemccauley]

I'd love to hear Zoo Station, but judging by the IE tour it's region locked nowadays Bugs the hell out of me that they think only Germany wants to hear it or that only Spain wants to hear Spanish Eyes.

If they insist on doing that with certain songs, I just hope American Soul is safely contained in the first leg then fucks right off.

Yeah that’s my fear for Zoo Station backed up by them only playing it in Berlin 2015.

Same time I hope they only play American Soul in the US. Really hoping that one doesn’t stick around too long

 

[martha]

Sorry guys if I offended you.
But it would be nice to hear the title track or Magnificent in the tour.

It takes a lot more than that to offend me.

 

[vivalaviDavid]

Am I the only member of the U2 fandom who wants to hear ‘I’ll go crazy’ this tour?
And not the shite 360 version with the bongos. A proper version like the one on the record.

It’s their one of their best songs from 2000-2016. No question.

 

[Hewson]

Am I the only member of the U2 fandom who wants to hear ‘I’ll go crazy’ this tour?
And not the shite 360 version with the bongos. A proper version like the one on the record.

It’s their one of their best songs from 2000-2016. No question.

Now that's a first post to be remembered.

Welcome to the forum.

And to answer your question; yes.

 

[vivalaviDavid]

Now that's a first post to be remembered.



Welcome to the forum.



And to answer your question; yes.

Cheers. I know I’m supposed to introduce myself first but I’m really interested to know why I’m the only U2 fan who loves that song. [emoji848]

 

[kabigon]

I'd like to hear nloth's title track since it was dropped during the 2010 360 shows. Other than that nloth can continue its retirement.